|
The undated file photo shows the Supreme Prosecutor’s office in Seoul. (Yonhap) |
Attorney General Kim Oh-soo pledged on Wednesday to do whatever he can to derail the ruling Democratic Party’s push for a bill stripping the prosecutor’s office of its investigative powers, slamming this decision as a “direct violation of the Constitution” that would only be welcomed by criminals. .
The DP has pushed for what it calls a ‘complete disenfranchisement of prosecutorial investigations’ as part of efforts to reform the powerful law enforcement agency long accused of abusing its power for political and other purposes.
The party, which controls a majority in the 300-member National Assembly, decided at a general meeting of lawmakers on Tuesday to push the reform bill through parliament later this month ahead of the inauguration on May 10 from President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol.
The attorney general strongly protested the proposed bill, saying he would resign if it passed.
“It would be a direct violation of the Constitution,” Kim told reporters. “If such a bill is called for, criminals would shout hooray, and crime victims and people would have nowhere to turn. In a nutshell, it goes against common sense.”
Kim said he will mobilize all measures to appeal to the National Assembly, the President and the Constitutional Court to stop the proposed reform.
Last year, the prosecution was forced to waive the right to investigate all but six major crimes, including corruption and election crimes, the police and the new Bureau of Investigation of Corruption for Seniors officials in charge of other investigations.
The DP is trying to remove the remaining investigative power to leave the agency with only the power to prosecute.
On Wednesday, a prosecutor also offered to resign in protest.
Expressing his intention to resign, Lee Bok-hyeon of the Seoul Northern District Prosecutor’s Office wrote on the prosecution’s online bulletin board that investigations into various crimes, including financial market irregularities and conflict of interests of those in power, will disappear as a result of the reform. to push.
“I think that’s something nobody wants,” he said.
He also asked President Moon Jae-in and Yoon to speak out on the issue and clarify their positions. (Yonhap)
